Joshua 10:16-23-16

Recap:

Joshua 1- Be strong and courageous-

Courage is not something we are born with, muster up from deep within ourselves,

Courage is not the absence of fear, fear must exist for courage to be demonstrated, courage is the ability to act in spite of the fear we feel

The source of courage is external-

Joshua 1:1–6 NIV

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

What or Who is the external source of Joshua’s courage? It’s God. Why can Joshua lead the people of Isreal courageously into the Promised Land because “I” the God of Isreal has their backs

So Joshua can courageously step in as the leader of the Israelites and courageously lead them into the promised land, not because he has no fear, not because he is able to muster something up inside of himself, not because he was born with an extra measure of courage but because there is a source external to him, someone He can trust to have his and the peoples back- God

Courage also is born out of a deeper fear- that deeper fear would be the fear of the Lord

Joshua 2-

God’s Kingdom Mission gets accomplished. In the overall view of God’s Kingdom Mission, none of our experiences in life are wasted. God uses each of them to accomplish his Kingdom Mission in us and through us.

What Kingdom mission is God accomplishing through my present experiences?

Joshua 3-

What flooded, impassable river are you staring at?

Are you waiting on God to lead you?

Joshua 4-

What do we do when God fulfills his promise?

We “remember”

Remembering :

Bolsters our faith

We have a tendency to forget from one time to the next how God showed up. So when we arrive at the next “Jordan River” we freak out

Keeps us in right perspective

When we arrive on the other side of the “Jordan” after some time we can begin to forget who did what....we did not get ourselves across that river- God did

Remembering gives us right perspective of who we are and who God is

Joshua 6-

Claim it

Joshua 6:2 NIV

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

“Advance”

Joshua 6:6–7 ESV

So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

“Sing”

Joshua 6:20 NIV

When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.

Joshua 7- Through the sin of Achan, we were challenged to find ways this summer to keep God’s word in the forefront of our minds, so that we might not forget what it says, how it instructs us to live- that when we “see”

Joshua 9- We see the sovereignty of God on display-

John Pipers definition- When we say God is sovereign, we mean he is powerful and authoritative to the extent of being able to override all other powers and authorities. That’s my effort at a definition. Nothing can successfully stop any act or any event or design or purpose that God intends to certainly bring about. That’s my definition.

That is to say that even when we seemingly make the wrong decision, when we make a treaty that maybe we shouldn’t have, God continues to work to accomplish his plan, through confusion, hail and the sun standing still- the conclusion-

“Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel.”

Joshua 10:16-23-

We are going to pick up in Joshua 11:15-23

Joshua 11:15–23 NIV

As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses. So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death. Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses. At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive. So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.

“Then the land had rest from war.”

The plan/goal of Israels conquest was not for them to live in an ongoing state of war. Sure a season of labor was required before they could- rest

7 years of conquest/7 years of settlement- the phrase used “for a long time”

There are “active” and “restful” periods in our lives, in our Christian lives

“Some of us fail to rest because we don’t think our work is finished. There is something else that needs to be done or attended to.”- Louie Giglio

Some of our inability to rest may come from a desire to feel like we are in control, to think that we have everything “under control”- that may flow our of a lack of trust- if I don’t do it no one else will- including God

“But God calls us to rest regardless of whether the work is complete or not”- Louie Giglio

See not all of the land had been taken- Joshua 13:1

Joshua 13:1 NIV

When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

There was still land left to be taken but part of this rest is trusting God with what is undone.

What does God say about that which is still undone- Joshua 13:6-7

Joshua 13:6–7 NIV

“As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, and divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.”

He says go ahead and divide it up, its yours, I am going to drive them out before you

“God gives us rest so that we can enjoy him, the life he has given us, and live in a healthy rhythm of life”- Louie Giglio

What do we miss out on when we fail to rest?

First, we miss the enjoyment of God- this is the “remembering” what God has done for us

Secondly, practically we miss out on life, that which he has already given us- we are so consumed by the land that is still to be taken, that we miss out on the enjoyment of the land that he has already given us- and he has already said enjoy that land too because I am going to give it to you.

Finally, the rhythm of our life becomes unhealthy- it’s built into God’s creation- 6 days you labor, 1 day you rest....7 years of conquest, 7 years of settlement “rest”.... rhythm of active and restful periods in our lives

What is Rest-

What is not is, make yourself comfortable, sit back prop your feet grab a cold drink and take it easy-

Certainly the Israelites were probably physically and mentally exhausted, their bodies needed rest from warfare

But this rest was more a “pausing to remember the faithfulness of God,”

Remember where we were 7 years ago on the other side of the Jordan- God told us to be strong and courageous because he was going to give us this land

Look at this land- look at what God has done- He did it

Rest is not comfort, don’t get to comfortable, don’t let your guard down, remain alert, there is preparation happening for the next period of activity

Joshua 23:1–16 NIV

After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you. “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now. “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God. “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you. “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

The command from Joshua 1 is given again here- “be strong”

It’s a rhythm- the Israelites will be active in conquest and war again soon

Conclusion-

What does a healthy rhythm of activity and rest look like for you-

Remember- there are always going to be things that are undone- are we tuned in to God enough to recognize when he is telling us to hit the pause button

Do I trust God enough- with the undone- remember what he says about that which remains undone in this case- it’s yours, treat it that way

Remember- rest is not laziness, its not comfort- the Israelites may have been resting from war but they were now settling the land-

“God gives us rest so that we can enjoy him, the life he has given us, and live in a healthy rhythm of life”